Canned Food Drive

It’s time for the annual Menlo-Atherton High School Canned Food Drive. In a tradition started by legendary Coach Ben Parks, M-A students collect food from the community to help feed several hundred families in our area, many of them M-A families. According to the Second Harvest Food Bank website, one in four people in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties are at risk for hunger. Many are children, and some are our neighbors, classmates, or acquaintances.

This year M-A is again partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) to ensure that families continue to have access to food sources beyond the Canned Food Drive.

Here are ways that you can help:

▪When you are shopping for your family, please add extra cans to your cart and drop them in-to the SHFB barrels. M-A students will be handing out the list of the most-needed items requested by SHFB.

▪Consider donating online. Type “high school” in the online food drive box and select Menlo-Atherton High School so that your gift can be properly credited to the M-A outreach effort.

▪Encourage students in your family to conduct food drives in your neighborhood! While the Canned Food Drive is entirely organized and coordinated by the M-A Leadership class, all M-A students are urged to show their Bear Pride by participating in this amazing effort that has garnered M-A two awards from SHFB.

Distribution to families will take place at Ecumenical Hunger Program(2411 Pulgas Ave.) in East Palo Alto on Saturday, December 3. For the second year, Facebook has generously donated reusable grocery bags that will be used to package the food for recipient families.

M-A is a regular recipient of Second Harvest’s coveted Blue Diamond Award, which totals food collections as well as monetary donations, and its Community Champion Award, going to non-corporate groups with the highest number of participants. Last year, this wonderful community event donated over 100,000 pounds of food to local families.